King stays neutral

There was a glimmer of hope for some of the candidates that Rep. Steve King would pick a side in the primary, and he was believed to be considering either Rick Santorum or Mitt Romney.

But he's now making clear, via his Twitter feed, that he's not going to do anything:

I just announced on Simon Conway's program on WHO Radio that I will not endorse a candidate in the Iowa Caucus.

This is ultimately a loss for Santorum, who could use a potentially coalescing endorsement to prompt evangelicals and conservatives to peel away from other candidates and get behind him. On the other hand, it's a net positive development for Romney — while he would no doubt get a boost from King, he wasn't expected to receive it, and who can only benefit by the congressman staying neutral.